The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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68 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2018 BY ANDREW VAILLIENCOURT L ast year, the U-M hockey team's season ended with a 13-19-3 re- cord, a disappointing finish to the storied career of coach Red Berenson. Michigan hired former Berenson assistant Mel Pearson as its new coach, sparking a turnaround not many predicted. After entering the year projected to finish in sixth place in the Big Ten (out of seven teams), the Wolverines came in third — be- hind two teams that were No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — with a record of 20-14-3. Michigan was selected to this year's NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed and was matched up against No. 3 seed Northeastern in the first round March 24 in Worcester, Mass. The victor was slated to face the win- ner of the contest between No. 1 seed Cornell and No. 4 seed Boston Uni- versity the following day with a Fro- zen Four berth on the line. "It's awesome," junior forward Cooper Marody noted. "No one re- ally had any expectations for us this year. People were saying we'd be sec- ond to last in the conference and here we are a second seed in the NCAA Tournament. "It's something we worked really hard for. We faced a lot of adversity this year, but we're very happy with where we're at and where we're seeded." Michigan finished the regular sea- son tied for eighth in the PairWise rankings, which is used in the selec- tion process for the NCAA Tourna- ment. Northeastern was tied with the Wolverines, meaning U-M is the fourth No. 2 seed and Northeastern is the first No. 3 seed. The Huskies (23-9-5) are one of the best offensive teams in the country. They are led by two Hobey Baker Award finalists in junior forward Adam Guadette and senior forward Dylan Sikura, who entered the NCAA Tournament with a combined 51 goals scored this season. Guadette led the nation in scoring with 60 points and led the country in goals with 30. Sikura has had back-to-back 50-point seasons. Michigan entered the game versus Northeastern after a long layoff, not playing since its Big Ten Tournament semifinal loss to Ohio State March 10. This will be just the second NCAA Tournament appearance for Michi- gan since 2012. It last made the 16- team field in 2016. "It's very important to have ex- perience," Pearson said. "We have that, they can shed some light to our younger players, but you have to go through it. "Obviously, our seniors and ju- niors have been in the tournament. They've been great leaders, they've led us all year." MICHIGAN HOCKEY Wolverines Earn No. 2 Seed In NCAA Tournament Senior forward Tony Calderone earned second-team All-Big Ten accolades after pacing the Wolverines and the Big Ten with 23 goals. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL